Monday: Charlie and I saw the Sesame Street Live show. We ate popcorn, sang all the songs we knew and then met his dad for hamburgers and ice cream.

Tuesday: Charlie stayed at Nevin’s house. They went to the Children’s Museum and played with Toy Story dolls.

Wednesday: Nevin stayed with me and Charlie. We went to Bounce U, ate pizza, saw sea creatures at the Chinese grocery store, bought pastries at the bakery, played at the playground and flew a kite. They only managed to pull out about half the toys in the house.

Thursday: Our dear friend Ruth watched Charlie. They started at our place, and made their way to hers. They made raspberry pancakes. We forgot to leave a key, so I had to go home at lunch and drop it off. Then she forgot to ask him to go to the bathroom before their walk…. I told Ruth that everyone who watches kids gets pooped and peed on at least once.

Friday: Ruth watched Charlie again, at her place, but it was raining and they stayed inside all day. There was a lot of TV, some pop-up books and a hammock. They made smoothies, a bagel face and a helicopter. Ruth was worn slap out. I tried to reassure her that indoor days were hard for everyone, and I brought her thank-you flowers. I still owe her a bottle of wine.

Saturday: A morning at home with Legos followed by an impromptu trip to the Lego store with Dad for more little men, and a search for some pop-up books at the Strand.

Sunday: We’ll try to gear up for school on Monday, though I don’t think any of us are ready.

–After school, instead of waiting for the bus, we walked to the train. It took much longer, but kind of felt like an adventure. We stopped at the pet food store to see the resident tabby cat. We found a stick and a “gumball yo-yo.” We poked ice piles–big snowy ones, small “skin-like” ones, crunchy ones on the stairs, melty ones too. My fingers were numb from poking.

–Charlie loved that we met the mailman (who was a woman) today in our lobby. She gave the mail right to us!

–As I was reading aloud from a zoo book, Charlie noticed that the red panda’s name, Chao, started with the same sound as his name. Not just the CH, but the CHA.

–Sometimes, about one minute before he falls asleep, he says more than he’ll usually say when awake. Tonight, he listed all the things he wants to show me about his classroom at the family conference. The Magna tiles, the crayons for rest time, the games and puzzles. They have a game called “Who Are You?,” he said, which was his teacher’s grandmother’s game.

–And I’m glad I took a day off to go with him on his field trip to the transit museum yesterday. It was fun to see the class dynamic, and we had an awesome tour guide. I also got to sit on a 107-year-old train car and hear how things used to be. Best of all, when I thanked Charlie for letting me come on his trip. He said, “Thank YOU, Mama, for coming with me to the museum. I’m so glad we saw it together,” and then he gave me a hug. (We also got into a fight, before this, because he knocked down some boxes of strawberries at the corner grocery and I made him apologize to the store clerk who had to pick them up. I was very proud that Charlie actually did apologize, even though he was very sad after we walked away.)

–He names everything Nicky. Our fish, his Zou Zou pet, his stuffed dog… When the prairie dog in our zoo book didn’t have a name, I said we could name him whatever we wanted. Guess what Charlie picked?